


Gold Dust

by NebraskaWildfire



Series: Sweet Dreams [3]
Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: F/M, outlaw days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 23:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21064601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebraskaWildfire/pseuds/NebraskaWildfire
Summary: The boys from Devil’s Hole look for a little recreation and a lost soul finds redemption.





	Gold Dust

Whenever the Devil’s Hole Gang rode into town, things changed. We went from a quiet out of the way hole in the wall to a lively little community. The mercantile would sell more than it did in a month. The livery would need to reorder hay and feed. The two saloons would run out of the good stuff and close to all of the barely drinkable. And we ladies at Madeleine’s Place would sleep for a week afterwards and then go buy new dresses to have for the next time they blew into town. 

Needless to say, every time one of the few proper ladies that were around got it in her mind to have a meeting about finally electing a sheriff to keep peace in the town, her husband would quietly, or not so quietly, get her to drop the idea before any trouble was caused. When it was pointed out that her comfortable life was often financed by the money brought into her husband’s business by the boys who came into town with Curry and Heyes, the subject was quickly forgotten.

You could often hear the group of them thunder into town, the horses’ hooves kicking up a swirling storm of dust, and their deep throated laughter echoing through the streets, as they dismounted. Sometimes they would make their way to the hotel first for a bath, or the saloon to cut the dust, but sometimes they’d burst into Maddie’s parlor, still covered in a thick coat of the desert sand that surrounded Crescent Junction. Only their eyes and teeth would be shining out of the dust, with trickles of fresh sweat making tracks in their hair and faces once they slapped their hats against their swirling coats.

Some of the girls would wheedle the boys into taking a bath first, but others would just make certain any of their good dresses made it quickly to the floor and out of the way until some of the gold certain to flow from this group was starting to spread. Some had favorites among the boys of Devil’s Hole. Katie was fond of the bluster of Wheat Carlson, and Mary found the shyness of Kyle Murtry sweet. Any of the girls were overjoyed when either Kid Curry or Hannibal Heyes graced them with their company for the night.

Sometimes Maddie had more girls in the house than boys from the Hole who showed up. For this reason, most of them were quick to latch onto a companion for the night. The shower of gold that came into the house from one of their visits made life easier for us all, but getting an extra gold piece or two personally made life even better. Not only could Maddie turn away some of the rougher bunches who might show up, but it was always good to have money to buy a box of Swiss chocolates or French perfume, or a new dress when a client ripped up an old one.

Me, I usually held back. Maddie always needed help pouring drinks and passing around sandwiches, and was thankful of my hesitation. Besides, we both knew that before the night was over, I’d usually I end up with one or the other of the leaders of the gang from Devil’s Hole. One of them usually held back to keep watch while his partner went up the stairs with the girls and the rest of the boys. 

If it was the Kid who stayed behind with Maddie and me, I’d go to make a fresh stack of pancakes and eggs, while he’d clean that gleaming Colt of his. We’d exchange a few words while he cleaned the plate with a piece of toast or two, but mainly we’d let the silence of the night settle along with the dust that had swirled in the door with the boys from Devil’s Hole.

When Hannibal Heyes would eventually wander down the stairs, looking relaxed and yawning even while cajoling Maddie to make him a fresh pot of coffee, the Kid would meet my eyes. Those blue jewels would capture my attention, just as his calloused hand would capture mine, pulling me to my feet and we’d trip lightly up the stairs.

This night however, it was Heyes himself who stayed down with me, while the Kid went up with Hannah. Maddie went off to brew a pot of strong coffee, while Hannibal Heyes and I sat down to play the first of many games of black jack. As in nights before, as his hands glided over the playing cards like a virtuoso playing a violin, he spun tale after tale. He talked of banks they had robbed, trains they had stopped, and outlaws they had ridden with.

“Where are you from?” I asked him, when he had take a breath to gulp a swig of coffee.

He grimaced, I wasn’t certain if it was from the coffee or my question. As Maddie always provided the best food and drink she could afford, I wondered if I had blundered.

“Nowhere that matters any more,” he finally replied, as I had let the silence of the night hover between us. His eyes captured mine. “Why’d you want to know?” 

I had forgotten for a moment how cautious both he and the Kid were. “No reason, Mr. Heyes.” I got up to freshen his cup of coffee and add a bit to mine. It might be a long night. “Just making conversation.”

“Where are you from?” His voice still held a trace of his wariness.

“New York City.” I smiled as I saw some surprise in his face. “I was born there.” I broke my gaze away from his demanding eyes and stared into the opaque glass of the front windows. Then I looked back at him. “My parents wanted away from the crowding and disease of the city, so we came out here when I was young.” I looked down. “The cholera got them when I was fifteen.”

“You been with Miss Madeleine since then?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head. “My brother and I tried to keep the farm going for a year or so, for the younger ones.”

“You had other brothers and sisters?”

“Yeah, Sally was ten and Bobby just five when the measles took them.” We were both silent and still for a while. “After that Jay said it wasn’t worth the effort. He went off to the silver strike up in Colorado. For a while he sent what money he could.” I found that I didn’t want to continue. After a couple minutes, Heyes resumed dealing. We played a couple hands.

“We’re from Kansas.” He said as he dealt me an ace and a king. 

“We?”

“The Kid and I.” He won the next hand.

“Oh.” We took a break and I brought him another sandwich. “Did you two grow up together?”

He nodded as he took a bite and chewed. I started to straighten out a table or two, putting out more food and drinks, as I expected some of the boys would be back down soon. 

“We’re cousins.” He had dealt himself a hand of solitaire, but shuffled the cards back into the deck as I sat back down.

“I didn’t know that.”

He shrugged. “Not something we advertise.” His eyes met mine. I smiled acknowledging the gift he had given me.

We played more blackjack until a couple of the boys wandered back down and I got up to see to them. Maddie came out of the back, with more of the good whiskey, and she captured Hannibal Heyes’ attention for a while, listening raptly at yet another one of his stories. 

I kept myself busy until I saw the Kid saunter down the stairs, yawning. He ran his hand through his blond curls as I walked up to him and handed him a cup of fresh coffee.

“Thank you, Grace.” He nodded and settled in a chair at the table where Maddie and Heyes were seated.

I made certain the boys had everything they wanted, so that I was more than ready when Hannibal Heyes tapped me on my shoulder and gently caught my hand, his dark eyes smiling down into mine.

It was some time later that my discussion with Hannibal Heyes continued. We were in my bed with me in his arms.

“Do you miss the city?” he asked quietly, his fingers dancing on my shoulder.

“No, not really.” I stroked his chest. “All I really remember is noise and lots of people.”

He nodded. “The Kid went back to Philadelphia once, to visit some of his people. I think he was glad he went, but told me it wasn’t somewhere he thought he’d want to live long term.”

He didn’t continue, so I closed my eyes and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Soon enough, I knew he’d be gone.

“Do you still hear from your brother?”

I shook my head.

“Do you know where he went?”

“Cripple Creek.”

We were quiet for a few minutes. Then to my surprise, he kissed my again and I was happy to spend some more time with him before the boys from Devil’s Hole rode back out of town.

It was a few months later that I received a letter from Colorado from my brother. He hadn’t struck the mother-load, but he had found something even better, a shopkeeper who had a pretty daughter and no sons, who was doing land office business, selling supplies to the miners. They had married and we expecting a child, so as his father-in-law needed help in the store, he had asked me to come join them in Lead. As my brother honestly put it, with the mines producing as well as they were there, he was desperate enough for help not to ask too many questions about what my prior job had been. 

I looked up from the paper, out to the dusty street. We hadn’t seen Curry or Heyes or their gang for some time. We had heard that they were in Utah, or Montana. Somehow, sometime, they must have gotten word to Cripple Creek and then on to Lead, where my brother was now.

I wanted so desperately to thank them, but knew they’d want me to take this opportunity while I still could. Maybe I would find a rich miner who wanted to marry. I looked down at the letter once more time, smiling, thinking of the two very good outlaws, who really had owed me nothing more than what they had already paid, before I went to talk to Maddie.


End file.
